Ayani gives you a jewel completing the Dragon Sword. Now, you have the True Dragon Sword, a sword powered to Level 4, far stronger than the normal Dragon Sword, whose strength is only matched by the combination of the Dark Sword and True Dragon Sword (acquired in Chapter 14).

ScytheUT on the stairs..and everywhere in betweenObjective: Go down the stairs and reach Muramasa's shop in the house on ground level.

And you'll need the extra strength for the Tempered Gravestone, a brutally difficult level that requires strength over finesses. As you walk down the stairs through the village, mobs of Flame Ninjas and Archers will attack ruthlessly, throwing projectiles from every angle, swarming your immediate position. In this situation, the worst strategy is to run. The openness of the cliffs creates a tempting allure that you can run past the enemy, but they will find you, and hunt you, and kill you.

Use the scythe UT.

Instead of running away, approach the village systematically by killing each group one at a time with the scythe Ultimate Technique. The projectile from the UT will give you a safe distance from the incoming enemy, while killing those standing before you. Spamming the scythe UT is a great strategy when you don't know the position of the enemy, thanks to the autotarget mechanic. Plus, when you kill a group of enemies, your life will regenerate.

ScytheUT for the win: The projectile from the scythe UT can go through walls. If you know an enemy is coming towards you, hide behind a wall and arbitrarily execute the UTs. Some UT will hit the enemy; some won't. But you'll live in the end!

For situations when you don't have enough time to charge the scythe UT, immediately retreat and create space between you and the attacking enemy. Backtrack up the stairs. Find a safe location where you have enough time to charge and release the scythe UT before the enemy can hit you. When you cleared a group of enemies, look at your life bar and see if it had been regenerated. If so, proceed further in the village, walking slowly and cautiously, while looking for Archers and Flame Ninjas. Remember, don't rush things. Take your time.

When you've reached the bottom of the stairs, look for Muramasa's Shop and the Statue of the Earth Dragon in a house. Save your game and buy health and items before going farther into the village. You'll need a full stock of weapons for the upcoming epic fight against Flame Ninjas and several spider bosses.

The cluster of houses in the village

There's nothing in the house with the opened door, but there's something special behind the closed door of the house on the left side of the village. (Curious? The special items are Jewel of the Demon Seal and the Windmill Shuriken.) But in order to open the doors, you must have the Kureha's Room Key, found by interacting with the gravestones on a hill.

The Kureha's Room Key is found by interacting with the gravestones on a hill.

To get to the gravestones, run through the house, across the wooden bridge, past the locked house, and up the stairs on the hill. Up the stairs, you'll see a Jizo Statue Head on the ground before the turn. Then, past the Statue Head, look for several gravestones off the path, one of them containing Kureha's Room Key.

Did you know?: If you examined the gravestone with Kureha's Room Key back in Chapter 2, you would have read this interesting snippet of Ninja Gaiden history: "This is the grave of Kureha, Ryu's childhood friend and shrine-maiden of the Dragon Lineage."

The Jizo Statue Head.

Now that the key is in your inventory, backtrack down the hill, across the wooden bridge, and back to the cluster of houses. The locked house is on the left (direction assumes you're facing the hills). Unlock the door and grab the Windmill Shuriken and Spirit of the Devils. Now return to Muramasa's Shop to replenish used items and depleted health for the next battle in the area with the locked house. (The battle is triggered when you get the Wind Shuriken.)

Behind the locked door is the Windmill Shuriken.

Save the Spirit of the Devils: Don't use it now! Save it for the next boss battle to replenish your Ki in full!

The showdown in front of the locked house

Forget about using the Art of the Inferno; it has little affect on the spider boss creatures. Instead, use Art of the Piercing Void, which should kill them in one hit. To maximize efficiency, line up the spider creatures in a line before firing the Art of the Piercing Void. When you run out of Ki, use the Spirit of the Devils that you found in the locked house to refill your Ki, as well as adding one more stock of Ki! For the Flame Ninjas, run around the area while throwing Incendiary Shurikens. Eventually, their numbers will dwindle, and you can finish the rest off easily by using the scythe or the True Dragon Sword. When you've killed all the enemies, the locked door will be unlocked.

HINT!! If you look along the water you will see 3 circles on 2 posts that look like targets.....hmmm. Shoot the targets and get rewarded for your cunning and accuracy with full health, ninpo and a nice hunk of Ki to spend!

To make the battle a lot easier, focus on killing the spider bosses first.

After the battle and through the door

Climb the ladder. You'll see a corpse by the window with the History of the Castle Dragon, then jump out the window.

Explore the perimeter around the house by the cliff for a Crystal Skull. By following the path that wraps around the house, you'll see a corpse holding an Herb of Spiritual Life, and a bit beyond it, a Crystal Skull behind a wooden wheel in a corner of alley. Once you past the boundaries of the village, you'll swim through a cave and run up a hill packed with shrubs before seeing a Statue of the Earth Dragon under the entrance of a cave.

Crystal Skull

Location: The house by the cliff. Behind a wooden wheel in a corner of alley.

Crystal Skull

Location: In a house on the grassy hill. Break the door to uncover the Crystal Skull.

The cave

Before you enter the cave, save your game at the Statue of the Earth Dragon by the cave's entrance. The cave is a loop that comes back to the entrance, so don't worry about being lost. Just beyond the Statue are Blue Essence in a chest on your right, and the Test of Valor on your left.

Test of Valor

Reward: Lives of the Thousand GodsEnemies: Dogs and Flame Ninjas

The entire fight is based on mobility. For the first half of the fight, runaway from the dogs and the Flame Ninjas while spamming the Incendiary Shuriken strategy. When you run out of shuriken, take the strategy to the air and use repeated Flying Swallows on…everybody. Although it's risky to continually perform the Flying Swallow, this fight forces you to make an exception. The dogs are too dangerous to fight up close, and the Incendiary Shuriken from the Flame Ninjas makes it too dangerous to stand still. Which is why you should always be on the move, dodging, jumping, and Flying Swallowing. Use the Art of the Inferno to target and kill multiple enemies at once.

Outside the caveStuck? Unsure on where to go? Look to the left of the Statue of the Earth Dragon under the cave's entrance for the answer. Climb the rock stairs towards the top of the house, where you'll find the Hachijuro's NotebookGrains of Spiritual Life on a corpse in the corner.

Climb the rock stairs towards the top of the house.

The rope climb

The house leads to two mountains connected by a long rope. Naturally, you're supposed to climb the rope to the other side, where you'll find the Statue of the Earth Dragon. But before you shimmy across the rope, explore the area below the rope to find something special. A Crystal Skull! There's also a Life of the GodsBird Flip up the shaft and you should see it in a chest.

CrystalSkull

Location: From the first mountain, drop down through the shaft, and search the scaffolds for the Crystal Skull.

Muramasa gives you the Muramasa's Omusubi, an item that completely restores Ryu's health and heals all lasting damage.

Go up the hill while fighting the wolves, and you'll eventually see Muramasa's Shop.

The battlefield

You'll fight white ninjas and Flame Ninjas in the area marked by hundreds of arrows in the ground. The strategy relies on staying mobile by constantly running and dodging the Incendiary Shuriken, and attacking with the Flying Swallow. If you're feeling overwhelmed, use an Art of Inferno to target multiple enemies at once, but don't rely on Ninpo as a crutch -- the boss Genshin is up next, and you may want to use a Ninpo in the battle. Throw Incendiary Shurikens while running away from them, and when you run out, switch strategies and kill them through repeated Flying Swallow.

There's a corpse by a huge rock holding Koshimaru's Notebook.

Boss: Genshin

Genshin is easy. Just remember this simple yet effective strategy: attack with the scythe. That's it. Stay close to Genshin and repeatedly slash him with the scythe. You won't have to block, either. Assault him relentlessly, and execute a Ninpo for invincibility and to avoid his attacks, then dodge to the sides. Wait until Genshin whiffs his combo before getting in close and repeating the strategy.